#RetrosChristmasGiftGuide No.1: The Reliables

After writing Wednesday’s post all about my Christmas Party Season Checklist, it definitely got me thinking about the gifts I need to start buying this year. Every year I leave it until the very last second and it honestly adds such unnecessary stress to an already pretty busy work month for me. So this year, in a bid to try and do the total opposite, I am starting early. With next week being one of the biggest shopping weeks of the year (Black Friday/Cyber Monday) I decided to begin some browsing last night. I started by making a list of everyone I need to buy for and jotting down some ideas for each person. Such a simple task but I honestly feel so much better & have a clearer idea of what I’m going to buy. I always like to start by picking up some of those ol ‘reliable’ presents. The ones that will never let you down. The socks, pajamas, candles, etc. So in this post I’ve gone through some ideas in relation to those kind of gifts for each person I need to buy for. Over the next month, I’ll have lots more in depth gift guides coming up here on the blog, but I thought this would be a helpful one to get the ball rolling….

Parents

I always start with my parents because sometimes I find them to actually be the most difficult! Kaelin & I usually come together and get our parents something bigger like a trip or a hotel voucher. However, we always like to have some items for them to open on Christmas morning too. That is where the good ol’ reliables come into it. You can never go wrong with a book and this one by Gary Vaynerchuk called ‘Crush it’ is one of the best I’ve ever read. I got it for my dad last year & he loved it! As for mom, she enjoys a sentimental gift so I thought this frame would be nice with a picture of both Kaelin and I in it. She’s always asking us to print more photos for her so I know she would appreciate this – very simple and affordable too if you are on a budget! Below are some more ideas:

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Boyfriends/Brother

Does anyone else find boyfriends SO hard to shop for? They never seem to want or need anything. So I usually skip the asking part and just wing it. As I said they aren’t too fussy so you can never go very wrong. I know they say buying a watch for your boyfriend/girlfriend is bad luck but I find that it always goes down very well. I love this option from Asos as a little surprise. Another good gift idea is a wallet and again it’s hard to get one that they won’t like. This one looks nice and it would match the watch if you wanted to pick them both up!

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Sisters/Girfriends

I actually find Kaelin easy enough to shop for even though she has returned more than one of my presents in the past, haha! Again, we usually get each other one big thing that we know about but we like to have a few little surprises for each other as well. As Kaelin is really into makeup, I usually go down that route. I spotted this little gift set of Stila lipsticks and thought she would love something like that so your sister might like it too. I also think you can never go wrong with good ol’ reliable pajamas. These ones from Asos are very cute!

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Friends /Thank You’s

These are the small but meaningful gifts I like to give my close friends. Just to say Merry Christmas! As well as friends, I always like to give gifts to people I deal/work with throughout the year. So I like to stock up on these and have them when I need them. It’s also good to have a few of these ‘extra’ gifts on hand if you’re going to be attending people’s parties/dinners, etc. You can never go wrong with a candle (I never have enough!) and this one from Diptique is one of my very favourites. If you have a friend that loves to travel I also thought this lonely planet calendar would be a nice gift to give someone. It’s just something small but it’s the thought that counts…

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As I mentioned, I have lots more (more specific) Christmas Gift Guides to come over the next few weeks – this is just the beginning of them. And as well as the gift guides, with Black Friday & Cyber Monday coming up next week…next week is going to be ‘Shopping Week’ here on the blog & on my Youtube Channel. I’ll be uploading either a Fashion Video or Shopping Blog Post every single day next week, so be sure to keep an eye out. I will have all of the important discounts codes available in the posts…so don’t worry, I have you sorted! It is such a great time to buy your Christmas clothes & presents so definitely be sure to take advantage of it.

In the meantime, be sure to catch up on this week’s new videos HERE & HERE and have an amazing weekend,

[…] (@retroflame1) so be sure to keep an eye out . Also, if you haven’t already check out my first #RetrosChristmasGiftGuides all about reliable presents as some of those items may be gone on sale too! Chat soon, […]

[…] the second addition to my #RetrosChristmasGiftGude series. In the last one, I chatted about the reliable presents and this week I am focusing on the special women in your life. Whether it be your Mom, Sister, […]